ADULT Aquatic adults usually measure between 72 - 112 mm in total length and can reach 140 mm in rare instances. Snout-vent length ranges between 33 - 51 mm. The dorsum, normally olive-green, may vary from yellowish brown to dark greenish brown. Small black dots scatter over the back and tail, sometimes coalescing to form a mottled pattern. A series of orange-red to red, black-bordered spots, variable in number and size, is present on either side of the mid-dorsal line. There is a dark line extending from the nostril through the eye and widening somewhat on the side of the neck. The throat and belly are light to bright yellow, with scattered tiny black dots. Skin of the adult is soft, smooth to finely granular. Tails are strongly compressedly laterally. The head is moderately narrow with prominent cranial ridges. A series of three hedonic pits on each side of the head is present in both sexes. Coastal grooves and gular fold are not well developed as in other salamanders.

EFT Terrestrial efts are smaller than adults and measure between 35 - 86 mm in total length. They are usually red, orange-red, or reddish brown above, yellow to orange below, with crimson spots borded by black as in the adults. Skin of the eft has a rough, bumpy texture that feels dry to the touch. They have a more rounded contour, and their tail is not flatted and finned like the aquatic adults.

COLOR VARIATION The most brilliantly colored terrestrial efts usually occur in moist, forested mountains or other upland habitats. In other localities the efts are sometimes dull red. Efts that are in the process of metamorphosing into aquatic breeding forms are darker and may appear intermediate in skin texture and body shape as well as color. Transforming efts can thus be confused with adult newts that have to live out of water, as when ponds dry up or while overwintering on land. When taking on a temporarily terrestrial existence, these adults often darken in color, lose their tail fins and become rough-skinned.

This subspecies is considerably smaller than N. v. viridescens, with total length of adults ranging from 65 - 94 mm and snout-vent length of 32 - 46 mm. Adults are olive-green above, yellow below, with the dark dorsum sharply demarcated from the light venter along a line which passes through the eye. Small black dots are numerous throughout throat and belly (more numerous than in N. v. viridescens), more sparse on the sides and sometimes absent from the dorsum. The most distinguishing trait is a pair of broken red dorsolateral stripes completely bordered with black extending from the back of the head to the base of the tail on both sides of the mid-dorsal line. There may also be an irregular row of small, black-bordered red spots on the lower side of the body and an indistinct stripe along the ridge of the back. The trunk is slightly compressed and less stout than in N. v. viridescens. Tail laterally flattened and keeled but not as greatly widened as in N. v. viridescens. The terrestrial efts are reddish-brown, with dorsolateral red stripes less strongly bordered by black as in the aquatic adults.